With high-paced scrimmages at the University of Minnesota with NHL peers and no post-concussion symptoms, Keith Ballard may have a leg up on his teammates if there's a shortened NHL season. (Getty Images via National Hockey League).

VANCOUVER — The hockey homecoming novelty has worn off for Keith Ballard, but the benefit could be lasting.

An alum of the University of Minnesota, the Vancouver Canucks defenceman has taken to a sheet of ice at the Minneapolis campus three to four times a week with as many as 30 players during the NHL lockout. Far from casual gatherings, they have been run by former European and college coach John Harrington, who assisted on Mike Eruzione’s go-ahead goal for the U.S. in the famous 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics triumph over the Soviet Union.

Now you know why they call it the State of Hockey.

From former Golden Gophers like Erik Johnson, Kyle Okposo and Ballard to current Wild players Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, Niklas Backstrom and Cal Clutterbuck and a host of other NHL players who reside in Minnesota during the offseason, the lengthy sessions may give them a leg up if there’s a shortened season.

“We’ve got ice every day and after skating for 45 minutes and then a 45-minute scrimmage, the rust comes out,” chuckled Ballard. “It’s pretty impressive the group we have and the pace of our skates.”

The season can’t start soon enough for Ballard who actually has something to build upon. After missing the final 29 regular-season games with a concussion, he played in the final four conference quarterfinal encounters with the Los Angeles Kings. The bitter disappointment of a surprising first-round exit was tempered by Ballard looking confident and poised in a pairing with Chris Tanev. There was patience instead of panic as he logged 16:35 in the Game 4 victory which included 2:33 of shorthanded time. More importantly, the whiplash he suffered Feb. 4 on the cumulative effects of two hits against Colorado — his face hitting the end boards on a check from Daniel Winnik before being crosschecked in the back on the next shift — has not produced post-concussion symptoms.

“I’ve been good,” added the 30-year-old Ballard. “And if I had anything, I wouldn’t have come back and played in the playoffs. But I’ve had nothing since then and nothing over the summer. I’ve been fine. I was pleased how I came back and played after missing that much time and that was a big step. It was a little re-assuring and a good feeling to play pretty well. But from a team standpoint, it was extremely disappointing.

“I think how L.A. did it — and I don’t want to say luck — but the Kings barely got in the playoffs and put it together at the right time. We had good games with them but then we’re down 3-0. You don’t want to say it was a learning experience because that means you got what you didn’t want.”

Disappointment has often been associated with Ballard in his two seasons with the Canucks. With three seasons left on his contract at $4.2 million US annually, it’s a hefty price tag for anyone in a third pairing and it will only be magnified when the salary cap ceiling drops in a new collective bargaining agreement. But Ballard maintains he’s in a good place, even if coach Alain Vigneault often chose to play the departed Aaron Rome ahead of him.

“I don’t know what they [coaches] have in mind for me,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of different partners there and you kind of expect that. With Chris, we’ve had good chemistry and communicated really well. If that happens good. If not, you do the best with what you have.

“My first year was more of an adjustment period than I had probably anticipated and there were a lot of ups and down, but I felt really comfortable last year. I’m in a different role than previously in my career [Florida, Phoenix] and I’ve done everything I can to embrace my role and do the best I can with it. I just want to continue to do that.”

In the interim, a Christmas without hockey will find the blueliner at Ballard’s Resort in his native Baudette, Minn. The family-owned fishing resort is near the Canadian border and Lake of the Woods. It was established in 1961 and it’s where Ballard learn to catch walleye, whether in the summer or frigid winter in one of those ice-fishing shacks.

“You get up there and get in your jeans and a sweat shirt and you’ll be just fine, even though it’s 20 below zero,” said Ballard. “Unless you have to go to the bathroom, you usually stay pretty warm. I haven’t been up there since September and we’re just waiting for the ice to get a little thicker. A lot of people have said: ‘Are you bored?’ Obviously, I want to be playing, but to spend a lot of time with my wife and daughter and to not be on a six-game road trip, I’m enjoying that aspect of it.

“I’m not walking around and moping every day.”

OF NOTE — Cory Schneider made 35 saves Tuesday but Ambri-Piotta lost 4-1 to the Zurich Lions, who are coached by Marc Crawford. Former Canucks forward Ryan Shannon and Dustin Brown had a goal and an assist each for the Lions.

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